Climate Change through the Insurance Lens Opportunity and Innovation

MDCRES - Climate Change through the Insurance Lens: Opportunity and Innovation?

Climate change conversations usually focus on the physical causes and effects of climate change – things like droughts, sea-level rise, storms, etc. In this presentation, Greg Winchell focuses instead on the effects that climate change will have on a critical segment of our economy, the insurance industry. The job of the insurance industry is to make policyholders whole after they suffer a loss. But what can insurance companies do when perils expand beyond events within a risk pool and begin to act upon the whole risk pool, and beyond?

There’s a growing awareness of the climate peril among insurance companies, and one segment of the industry, reinsurance, is rising to the occasion to adapt, and possibly thrive in this new world. In spite of being the payer of last resort in the worst calamities, reinsurers have found new market opportunities created by our changing climate. Even more interesting, the reinsurers have found a way to have their cake and eat it too. On one side of the equation, they have found a way to adapt and profit from traditional insurance products that protect their clients from damages caused by climate change. On the other side, they are developing new insurance products and services to nurture and protect the new energy economy. There is opportunity to be found, not in spite of climate change, but because of it.

In this presentation, Mr. Winchell examines climate change through the lens of reinsurance and shows how some of these companies are adapting, developing innovative new products and services, moving into new markets, and growing their business.

The program was hosted by Lindsay Tyson, MDRES Chair.

A question and answer session followed Mr. Winchell's presentation.

This webinar was recorded at the January 20, 2022 meeting of the Metro Denver Chapter of the Colorado Renewable Energy Society.

Program note:
The audio and video quality is somewhat poor during the announcements and policy update segments due to participant connectivity issues; however, it’s fine during the main program.

Timeline:
00:00 Welcome and announcements - Lindsay Tyson
03:07 Policy update - Jonathan Rogers
08:25 Introduction - Lindsay Tyson
09:06 Presentation - Greg Winchell
56:03 Q&A

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Greg Winchell, CFE, MA, is a senior fraud investigator for a local insurance company. He has been in investigations for 25 years, 19 of which have been in insurance. Greg uses his experience and background from 19 years in the insurance industry to contribute to the growing conversation about climate change. Greg saw an opportunity to translate the climate change conversation into the language of the insurance industry. Greg is also the Program Director for MDCRES and is a chapter leader for a national volunteer organization (Citizens Climate Lobby [CCL]) and its business wing, Business Climate Leaders (BCL).

ABOUT CRES:

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CRES features several local monthly speaker series throughout the state, provides speakers, experts, and workshops and weighs in on state energy policy.